While GOP Strategists Fret About Josh Hawley’s Work Ethic, Hawley Spends His Days at a Columbia Gym

COLUMBIA, Mo. — This morning, the Riverfront Times reported that instead of focusing on his day job or campaign for Senate, Josh Hawley has been spending time at a gym 30 minutes away from his office “on a Friday at 10:14 a.m., on a Tuesday at 10:16 a.m. and yesterday, another Tuesday, at 10:03 a.m.”

Hawley has a lot of explaining to do to Republicans who were already expressing concern over his work ethic (or lack thereof):

Former Republican U.S. Senator Kit Bond: “If Hawley doesn’t gear it up and get with it, he’ll not beat [Claire]… I think a lot of people who want to see Hawley elected (are) wishing he’d get to work, doing fundraising and getting out and campaigning actively.”

Missouri Republican Assembly Vice President Don Carriker: “[The] Missouri Republican Assembly state group met and we went ahead and talked to everybody, had everybody speak, got to meet them personally, and Hawley was not there, which is a big showing of what he thinks about it, about having to go out. He hasn’t really campaigned much at all.”

According to the Kansas City Star: “Three GOP strategists… were wringing their hands Thursday over Hawley’s fundraising totals. One called Hawley’s numbers “beyond embarrassing” for a candidate billed as a rising star. ‘It’s a five-alarm fire,’ the strategist said.”

According to the National Journal’s Josh Kraushaar: “And Hawley is still sort of invisible… That’s what really concerns a lot of top Washington operatives… It’s already April of 2018 and they’re not seeing a whole lot of signs of life from Hawley’s campaign.”

If these Republicans were unhappy with Hawley’s work ethic before, imagine how they must feel now knowing that Hawley has been “showing up for lengthy workouts during peak office hours.”